Must Watch reviews: Riot Women

Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.

This week, Scott Bryan joins Naga Munchetty to review 'Riot Women.'

Riot Women is a drama series about five women in midlife who form a punk band, sparking a journey of self-expression and personal growth. As they prepare for a local talent contest, the process of writing and performing music helps them confront long-standing frustrations and rediscover their identities.

Through their collaboration, each woman begins to reevaluate her relationships, ambitions, and sense of purpose.

What do the Must Watch reviewers make of it all?

Naga: “What did you think of it?

“Is it a must-watch for you?”

Scott: “It is for me.

“I mean, anything with the word Sally Wainwright attached is always going to pique my interest.

“A reason why I adore her as a screenwriter—and this sounds quite obvious, the characters are so fully formed.

“The way that they talk is just like how anyone talks.

“It never feels as if they've learnt it from a script.

“It's all completely natural, and they are so fully formed in character, it feels like they had a life before the first scene and long after the final scene.”

Naga: “And you have an idea of what that life might have been before that first scene.

Scott: “A hundred percent…”

Naga: “Which is a craft that actors—if they have it—is amazing,

Scott: “Absolutely.

“I think also she manages to balance action with humour.

“I mean, this is of course less of an action piece than, let's say, Happy Valley, but she did a great interview recently with The Sunday Times with Alice Jones, and in that feature, she said that ‘in life's darkest moments, you'd be surprised at how much humour there is in everyday life.’

“She bemoans the fact that in some TV dramas—particularly thrillers—there doesn't really tend to be that much humour within them, when actually all life has humour in it.

“This is especially true with Riot Women, because—I don't want to reveal any spoilers—but it starts with probably one of the darkest scenes you can imagine, which is quite a surprise.

“It does shock you, but then there's humour within the next two or three minutes, and I think that really sets the course well.

“I think there is a palpable sense of anger through this piece.

“A sense of women being ignored, disenfranchised—that sort of difficulty of your kids, if you have kids, leaving the nest, having their own life, not really calling as much, not really being in touch as much as you would want them to.

“But also having to, in some cases, care for parents if they're experiencing difficulty with dementia or just old age.

“Also having to have that sense of pride in what you're doing, but feeling ignored, disenfranchised.

“There is a scene where Joanna Scanlan's character turns up at her work—she works at a school—and the door is literally closed on her face by one of the pupils, because the pupil just doesn't see that she's there.

Naga: “It's the whole thing about invisible women, just not being seen, particularly after a certain age.

“When her son and his girlfriend make up an excuse for not seeing her, it's a date—you can just see it's a very short scene, but she's in the car and he calls and says, ‘We're not gonna make it, we've got to go to this thing, I'm really sorry, can we do this other date?’

“It's a marker, and it's just been pulled away.

“In that moment, you see a mother who's been really disappointed.

“You see a woman who's been told she's not as important anymore.

“You see a person who was clinging on to maybe events in the future to keep clinging on.

“And then you see her recompose herself, steel herself to look forward to the next date two days after, and you see all of that in like 20 seconds.

“You know what I mean?

“For me, it was excellent, a masterclass in acting, for a start.”

Scott: “It is, and I think, I mean, you sum it up perfectly.

“I think when I first heard about the concept of a punk rock band, I was thinking to myself, ‘How is this going to work without it falling into clichés or being overly simplistic?’

“Also, the world of music—having to tap into that—and Sally has said that prior to this, she didn't have that much knowledge about music.

“I think she learnt the drums at one point, she said in a recent interview with Radio Times.

“But I think it works.

“I think it works in the context of this because it highlights how music is an outlet for expression, and that these are people who are trying to find an outlet to express themselves.

“The actors who are tied to this—fully fleshed characters—are also great too.

“For me, it works.

“I think, though, that if you're seeing stories about disenfranchised older women, menopause, don't think that it is purely aimed at those audiences.”

Naga: “I was gonna say this, and I don't want this to sound preachy, because when Adolescence came out, everyone was like, ‘You have to watch it.’

“You have to understand what kids are going through.

“Parents have to understand how they talk to them.

“In a way, it's kind of like that.

“It’s not ‘You have to watch it,’ but if you do watch it, you will understand that pain—that moment we've all had where we've rearranged a date with a parent.

“We've all done it, and you get to some age where your life is seemingly more important than theirs, if we're being painfully honest.

“You see a woman of a certain age—a menopausal woman—and she's ratty, and you're just like, ‘You're in society now, just cope.’

“It’s about the workplace, how you talk about—not just mental health—but, ‘Are you seeing me?’

“Because that moment you said when she was ignored and the door was closed in her face—she brings it up, and the schoolboy who ignored her—and we're not spoiling anything here—says simply, ‘I just didn't see her, Miss,’ which is so painful.

Naga: “It will make anyone think about how they're treating other people.

“Also, I think Sally Wainwright is always a great storyteller.

“This is all about the story.

“You can sense the themes that come through, the way there's inspiration, but it's all about the story.

“That's what makes her work so good.

“So, it's definitely a must-watch for you?”

Scott: “Yeah.”

Naga: “How many episodes are there?”

Scott: “Six. They're all available to watch on the iPlayer.”

All episodes of Riot Women are available on the BBC iPlayer now.

This week must watch reviewed "Monster: The Ed Gein Story and the documentary Victoria Beckham.

But before all that, why not contact Scott and Hayley with the shows you’ve been loving, loathing or both on [email protected].